


Dancing in the Fridge Light

by LilacChocolate



Series: Rin & Nitori [22]
Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Boys Kissing, Dancing, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, M/M, Nightmare Disorder, Nightmares, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 09:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15046097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacChocolate/pseuds/LilacChocolate
Summary: When there's a power cut at Samezuka, Rin stays awake with Ai to chase away his nightmares.





	Dancing in the Fridge Light

Aiichiro whimpered from the top of the bunk bed as he watched his nightlight flicker off. Had it broken?

Quietly, so he wouldn’t wake Rin, Aiichiro got down from the bunk bed and padded across to the wall where the desks were and where his nightlight was plugged in. He turned the switch off and on, but the light didn’t return. Either his nightlight was broken, or there was a power cut.

Aiichiro tested Rin’s desk lamp, but that didn’t work either, and he whimpered again. How was he supposed to sleep now?

Rin opened his eyes and stared at Aiichiro, who he could just about see stood by the desks in the dark. ‘What’s wrong, Ai?’ he asked. The redhead wanted to sleep, but he wasn’t going to get any if Aiichiro was going to whimper all night long.

‘There’s a power cut, senpai. My nightlight’s gone off.’

The redhead sat up then. Aiichiro had nightmare disorder, and the only thing that gave Aiichiro a dreamless sleep was his nightlight. Rin had had his fair share of nightmares about his dad, but they were few and far between these days, and he’s never woken up screaming like Aiichiro had done on those rare nights when he’d forgotten to put on his nightlight.

Rin grabbed his phone from the bedside table and got out of the bed. Aiichiro had helped him through his nightmares about his dad before; helping Aiichiro through tonight was the least he could do. He switched on the torch function then led Aiichiro to sit on the floor, the torch in between them.

‘I can leave this here,’ Rin said. ‘Maybe use it as your nightlight?’

‘Thanks, senpai, but your phone will die eventually. I’ll just stay up with it for a bit. You should get some sleep, Rin-senpai.’ Aiichiro curled up into himself and laid down next to the room’s only light source. He looked so small and scared like that, and Rin just wanted to cuddle him. How could a boy as sweet as Aiichiro suffer from such awful nightmares?

‘Are you scared?’ Rin asked.

Aiichiro nodded and Rin shuffled closer to him. ‘Then I’ll stay up with you.’

‘But then you’ll be tired for class and swim practice tomorrow.’

‘Then let’s be tired together.’

Aiichiro smiled. ‘Thank you, senpai.’

They sat in silence for a moment and Rin glanced over at the mini fridge. It was still humming despite the power cut, and he guessed the back-up battery power must have activated. He got up and walked over to it, opening the door and letting light flood the space in front of the fridge. ‘Do you want a drink?’ the redhead asked over his shoulder. ‘They’ll get warm soon.’

Aiichiro’s head perked up in interest. Not for the drinks, but at the new light source. He carried Rin’s phone over to the fridge, then curled up in front of the open fridge door.

Rin smiled down at Aiichiro. He could be so cute sometimes without even realising it. But the battery backup wouldn’t last forever. Maybe an hour, at most. It wouldn’t be good to let Aiichiro get attached to it.

‘You’ll get hypothermia if you stay there.’

‘Then cuddle with me.’ Aiichiro’s eyes widened as those words came out of his mouth. He was not expecting to say that. At all. He sat up, about to tell his senpai that he was joking, that he didn’t want to be cuddled with at all, but before he could, Rin was already sat on the floor and pulling Aiichiro’s smaller body up so he was sat in between Rin’s legs.

‘Warmer?’ the redhead asked, and Aiichiro could only nod as he blushed. He leant his head back against Rin’s bare chest and closed his eyes, letting a small smile take hold of his lips as he felt Rin’s arms tighten around him. He felt safe like this. Curled up with his senpai, bathed in cold light. He wished they could sit like this all the time. Maybe Aiichiro could sit on Rin’s lap the next time the redhead helped him with his English homework. Or he could wrap Aiichiro up in his larger swim team jacket whenever the weather got cold. That would be nice. Maybe they would make his nightmares finally go away. No amount of sleeping pills or other medication seemed to help. The only things that did were Aiichiro’s nightlight and his senpai. It was more than likely a placebo effect, but Rin made Aiichiro feel so safe. If only he was brave enough to ask Rin to cuddle with him every night.

Rin looked down at the top of Aiichiro’s head and resisted the urge to place a kiss on it. He was getting cold now, despite Aiichiro being nearer to the fridge, and he wanted to snuggle closer with his kōhai, but he didn’t want it to be weird. Instead, he began to sway them from side to side, hoping the movement would keep them.

When Aiichiro began to giggle, Rin started to hum, and the grey-haired boy relaxed against his senpai’s chest.

‘What song is it?’ the smaller boy asked.

‘I don’t know. Seijuro usually plays it in the changing rooms. I’ve always wanted to dance with you to it.’

Aiichiro blushed and looked down at his toes. ‘Thanks, but I don’t know how to dance.’

Rin let go of Aiichiro then, but before the grey-haired boy could whine about the loss of contact, the redhead stood up and pulled Aiichiro up with him.

‘Come on.’

‘What?’ Aiichiro asked, confused at Rin’ outstretched hands.

‘Stand on my feet. I’ll teach you how to dance.’

With another giggle, Aiichiro stood on Rin’s feet, both boys ignoring how cold their toes were as they wrapped their arms around each other and Rin began to sway once more as he hummed before eventually moving properly, dancing slowly around the room, holding Aiichiro close to his chest, threading his fingers through the boy’s feather-light hair. Why couldn’t he always be this close to Aiichiro? God, what Rin would give to be able to hold Aiichiro in his arms like this every night. He’d dance with him in the fridge light all day if it meant that Aiichiro would be his. But could there be a chance for them considering how Rin how treated Aiichiro when they first met?

His dancing gradually came to a stop after making himself sad and Aiichiro looked up. ‘Are you okay, senpai?’

Rin nodded. ‘Yeah. My dad used to dance with me like that.’ Which was true. But that wasn’t the reason he was sad.

Aiichiro smiled. ‘I’m honoured you can share something like that with me, Rin-senpai.’

The redhead nodded again and stared down at the boy in his arms. Maybe if he could kiss him, just once, then his own nightmares would stop. Rin shook his head. It was a stupid idea. This boy, so angelic and pure and _beautiful,_ would never want him. But if he kissed him, then maybe, for five seconds, Rin could fool himself into thinking that Aiichiro loved him back. Rin chuckled, knowing how stupid he sounded in his head, but then he leant down and kissed Aiichiro anyway.

Five seconds. That’s all it was. He didn’t even move his lips, barely registered himself breathing, too scared of the younger boy’s reaction to do anything more than pull away after the time he had allowed himself to dream was up.

Aiichiro was staring up at him, pink lips parted, eyes wide, but the look in them registered in Rin’s head as surprised. Not hate for taking his first kiss, not anger for not asking, not upset for doing it when he was scared, just surprise.

‘I’m sorry-’ Rin started, about to let go of Aiichiro and get down on his knees and beg for forgiveness, but then Aiichiro went up onto his tiptoes and kissed Rin back. It was short, not even as long as five seconds, and neither boy dared to move again until Aiichiro pulled back, a pink blush high on his cheeks.

Aiichiro looked down at his toes, shuffling slightly on Rin’s feet. ‘I’ve been wanting you to kiss me from the moment I saw you.’

It took a moment for what he said to sink in, but then Rin was grabbing Aiichiro around the waist and kissing him again, indulging himself for five, ten, fifteen seconds, revelling in the feeling of Aiichiro’s plump lips moving against his. Both boys were breathless when they parted and Rin took Aiichiro’s hands in his.

‘Come to bed with me. Sleep with me. I’ll scare your nightmares away.’

Aiichiro was nodding before Rin could even finish his sentence, and then the redhead was tugging them over to the bottom bunk and pulling them under the covers.

The grey-haired boy’s hands trembled as he curled up beside Rin, partly from fear of sleeping without his night light, partly because he was in the same bed with Rin, the man who he’d been in love with for the best part of a year.

Rin noticed the shaking and he grabbed Aiichiro’s hands, waiting until they stilled before he pulled Aiichiro in, cuddling him against his chest. ‘I’ve got you. The nightmares won’t come tonight. I’ll protect you, darling, okay?’ he said, pressing kisses to the top of Aiichiro’s head after every sentence.

‘Okay.’

…

Seijuro stretched in his bed as he yawned. There had been a power cut last night, and as the swim team captain, it was up to him to go and wake up his teammates since their alarms wouldn’t be working.

His first stop was across the hall, at Rin and Aiichiro’s room. Considering the circumstances, he would have barged right in, but since he knew his star butterfly swimmer usually got up at this time to go for a jog, he probably wouldn’t appreciate being walked in on whilst getting dressed. He knocked at the door, but there was no answer. Seijuro couldn’t hear anything from inside either. Was Rin still asleep? It was unlikely, but not impossible.

Slowly, he opened the door, and sure enough, Rin was in bed, still sound asleep. And cuddled up beside him was none other than Nitori Aiichiro.

With a smirk on his face, Seijuro slowly backed out of the room and shut the door. He knew he shouldn’t have turned off the power at the academy last night, especially since it could cause Aiichiro a lot of stress with his nightmare disorder, but Seijuro was sick of Rin and his kōhai flirting all the time. It was getting to a point where he’d feel sick just listening to them talk. He was certain that if he gave the temperamental redhead a reason to take care of Aiichiro, then it would lead to a confession.

And whilst he didn’t know what had exactly happened in that dorm room last night, with the way the two boys were curled around each other, he could only assume that the best possible outcome had occurred.

The ensuing detention Seijuro was bound to receive would definitely be worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> http://lilacchocolate.tumblr.com/


End file.
